April 19, 2016 Get your class notebook. We are going to take grammar notes for the first few minutes of class today.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

EVERY VERB MUST AGREE WITH ITS SUBJECT Singular Subject Plural Verb Plural Subject Singular Verb

The Stupidity of English Grammar To make a noun plural, we add –s Singular: girl Plural: girls To make a verb plural, we take away the –s. Singular: he talks Plural: they talk

Watch the Verb Endings! Singular I walk You walk He/She/It walk s Joe walk s The girl walk s Plural We walk You walk They walk Joe and Maria walk The girls walk

Remember the 3 irregular verbs: DO SingularPlural He doesThey do HAVE She has They have BE He is They are She wasThey were

Tip for Subject/verb Agreement Generally, if the subject doesn’t end in –S, the verb will. If the subject does end in –S, the verb won’t.

The girl dances. No –S on subject -S on verb

The girls dance. -S on subject No –S on verb

Compound subjects joined by “and” If there are two or more subjects joined by and, the subject must be plural, so the verb will not get an “s”. Example The boy and the girl dance. (= They dance.) No –S on verb

Compound subjects joined by “or” If there are two or more subjects joined by or, the verb agrees with the part of the subject closest to it. Examples: The professor or the students walk the halls. The students or the professor walks the halls.

Watch out for “Everybody” Everybody loves grammar! Everybody understands subject/verb agreement. Everybody is a singular pronoun!

Subject verb agreement with linking verbs: is, are & was, were/ has, have/ do, does Make sure a linking verb agrees with its subject, not with the word or phrase that describes the subject. Incorrect: The worst backyard pest are squirrels. Correct: The worst backyard pest is squirrels. Tornadoes (is / are) a very common type of storm in the south. The bolded phrase is also called predicate nominative, which is the traditional term for a noun, pronoun, or other nominal that follows a linking verb.nounpronounnominallinking verb (group of words functioning like a noun)

Possible Pitfalls Sometimes, several words come between the subject and the verb. The student, though she had lots of problems in other schools, finds/find (?) her new class easy. The student, though she had lots of problems in other schools, finds her new class easy. The student finds her new class easy.

More pitfalls Watch out for phrases like as well as, along with.., and other types of phrases. They separate the subject from the verb. The boys, as well as their mom, are going on the trip. Annually the marching band, along with the symphonic and jazz bands, sponsors a fundraiser.

Possible Pitfalls – copy paragraph in back of notebook. An inverted sentence is one where the subject follows the verb. Sometimes, the subject will come after the verb, in questions or when sentence begins with there. Examples Why is he falling asleep? Why are they falling asleep? There is no excuse for such behavior. There are no excuses for such behavior.

More Possible Pitfalls Inverted sentences oftentimes begin with a prepositional phrase as well as there, here, why, or do. Once again, in these cases the subject will follow the verb.  Under the bush sits a rabbit.  Under the bush sit three rabbits.  On the wall hangs a picture.  On the wall hang several pictures.

Possible Pitfalls Special Subjects – a collective noun names a group. It is considered singular when it refers to a group as a whole. It is plural when it refers to each member individually. The couple are vacationing separately this year. The couple is going on a cruise this year.

Possible Pitfalls Relative Pronouns (who/which/that) can be either singular or plural, depending on the word they refer to. The student who works hard will succeed. The students who work hard will succeed.

How do I get this right? First, identify whether or not you have problems with subject/verb agreement. If you don’t have any problems with this, don’t worry about it! If you do have problems Identify the verb. Ask who or what is doing it. This will identify the subject. Say them together and make sure that they match in terms of number.

The subject and verb are the skeleton of every sentence. Make sure you fit those two important parts together correctly!

A few things…

Prepositions A preposition may be defined as connecting word showing the relation of a noun or a noun substitute to some other word in the sentence (the squirrel in the tree; the preposition in shows the relationship between the squirrel and the tree.). Over ninety percent of preposition usage involves these nine prepositions: with at by to in for from of on

Prepositional phrases The subject can never be part of a prepositional phrase. Example The students in my class study / studies hard. X

The verb must agree with the subject of the sentence, not with the object of a preposition. Therefore, the subject of a sentence is never contained in the prepositional phrase.

Intervening Prepositional Phrases The collection of rare stamps was very valuable. The puppies in the basket have brown fur. Prepositional Phrase verb subject Prepositional Phrase verb subject

1. Apartments in this city (is, are) expensive. 2. A convoy of trucks (is roaring, are roaring) down the dirt road. 3. This list of names (is used, are used) to check in contestants.

Possible Pitfalls Neither Cooper or Longfellow ______ the author of the The Scarlett Letter. (be) Neither my sister nor my brothers _________willing to lend my five dollars. (